Hot Water Heater Tip May 12, 2014, 11:02:31 am Yahoo Message Number: 146245I scurried out of the Denver area yesterday morning just ahead of a May snowstorm which has dumped too much wet snow there. Here, a 100 miles south at Lake Pueblo State Park, the wet snow caught up with me briefly last night, blowing horizontally into the water heater which was exposed to the north-blowing wind. It would not start last night. This morning I pulled off all the exposed wires leading to the circuit board and sprayed the contacts with DeoxIT contact cleaner and then reconnected them. The water heater fired up right away. DeoxIT is good stuff to have in your fix-it arsenal.Chris (70* here tomorrow)
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #1 – May 12, 2014, 12:39:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146250WD-40 does the same thing and is a lot less expensive than Deoxit.Dick
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #2 – May 12, 2014, 01:11:28 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146251I don't doubt that WD-40 will work, Dick, but the advantage of Deoxit is that after it does its cleaning thing, it evaporates thus not attracting dirt. I believe WD-40 leaves a residue and will attract particles of whatever is stirred up around it. My one aerosol can of Deoxit will last me forever and a day.Chris
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #3 – May 12, 2014, 01:50:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146252"DeoxIT is good stuff to have in your fix-it arsenal."You bet! Here's the version I use: a mini-spray can. A little goes a long way!Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #4 – May 12, 2014, 01:59:05 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146253WD-40 was specifically developed to displace water and prevent corrosion. Most people think of it as a lubricant, but WD stands for Water Displacement. The 40 stands for the 40th try by the chemist who developed it before he got it right. Back when all vehicles had distributors, it was the primary weapon to get the water out of a distributor cap when the engine wouldn't start. Just pop the cap, spray the inside with WD-40 and off you go. DeoxIT is primarily a contact cleaner that will also displace water. There are many versions of it. The most popular being the D5, which is the one I use with radios. There is no question that DeoxIT is a superior product for electrical contacts, but it also comes with a superior price tag.Dick
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #5 – May 12, 2014, 02:02:20 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146255"WD-40 does the same thing and is a lot less expensive than Deoxit."I can't agree with that. WD-40 is a mixture of naphtha, a petroleum-based solvent, and mineral oil (see WD-40 MSDS). Naphtha will do little or nothing to remove oxidation on metal contacts, and mineral oil is not something you want on anything electrical or electronic. This post to a motorcycling forum explains it better than I can. Bottom line: speaking as a former electronics tech, I would never use WD-40 as a substitute for contact cleaner.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #6 – May 12, 2014, 02:09:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146256In a message dated 5/12/2014 10:56:35 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com writes: Quote Quote
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #7 – May 12, 2014, 02:32:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146261"WD-40 does the same thing and is a lot less expensive than Deoxit."While WD-40 does displace moisture temporarily, it is a short term fix( for any of its uses) compared to Deoxit's being a better long term treatment. They are completely different products. In practical use, WD-40 is a cleaning solvent with very light lubricating properties, nothing long-term about it.After cleaning the water heater's electrical contacts, butter each one with dielectric grease for a good long-term fix. IMO, it holds up even better than Deoxit where exposure to the elements is an issue.Larry
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip & Deoxit discussion Reply #8 – May 12, 2014, 03:36:46 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146262Good tip, Larry. I'll do that when I get home.Chris"After cleaning the water heater's electrical contacts, butter each one with dielectric grease for a good long-term fix. IMO, it holds up even better than Deoxit where exposure to the elements is an issue. "Larry
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #9 – May 12, 2014, 04:01:33 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146263On the flip side, you have to be very careful about using DeoxIT for switch contacts on plastic materials. You can do serious damage to electronic equipment by spraying DeoxIT indiscriminately on things like phenolic insulated wafer switches. Lots of folks in the ham radio ranks have learned that the hard way. It needs to be applied to the contacts only with something like a toothpick. Bottom line. Use the appropriate cleaner for the job, and use appropriate cautions.Dick
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #10 – May 12, 2014, 05:54:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146265I recently had a problem with hot water heater not starting intermittently. I cleaned the contacts and applied dielectric grease to all but the problem persisted. Changing out the igniter board cured the problem. Luckily you got away with a cheap solution and didn't have to spend $100+ dollars to fix.Bob
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #11 – May 12, 2014, 06:11:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146266Interestingly, Bob, there is a printed warning label on the inside wall of the water heater that suggests before you mess with the circuit board, you should clean all the connectors going to it. Although I knew to do this, I was pleased to see the manufacturer was trying to save the end user some pain and dollars.Chris 2002 30' IB
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #12 – May 12, 2014, 06:44:09 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146267Chris, you may yet get a chance to spend that $100. I too had periodic intermittent issues with our '93 water heater, and was constantly cleaning & jiggering the connections to get it to work "one more time". Finally, I realized it had to be the controller, so I got this Dinosaur model: Dinosaur Electronics (UIB S) Small Universal Ignitor BoardIt's been working fault free for the last year. It's nice not wondering if the LPG valve is going to stay open and/or whether the electronic lighter is going to ignite, rather than have the unit fail to engage just when you need hot water. LOL As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #13 – May 12, 2014, 08:05:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146269What is the difference between the Dinosaur ckt. board and the regular Atwood ckt. board? Did I buy an inferior replacement?Thanks, Bob
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #14 – May 12, 2014, 10:45:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146270I've had an Atwood go bad - no amount of DeoxIt or cleaning contacts would do anything. With my Dinosaur board, it lights faster and more authoritatively than any stock water heater I ever used. It just plain works.
Re: Hot Water Heater Tip Reply #15 – May 13, 2014, 01:01:33 pm Yahoo Message Number: 146275"I've had an Atwood go bad - no amount of DeoxIt or cleaning contacts would do anything. With my Dinosaur board, it lights faster and more authoritatively than any stock water heater I ever used. It just plain works. " Many Atwood boards will start working again with a good cleaning. What I have seen happen is the contacts gradually disintegrate and wear thin, due to corrosion. Eventually, they will not make contact anymore. Keeping the contacts protected with dielectric grease slows down or eliminate the corrosion process and is what I suggest owners of new and used boards do. Dinosaur boards are top notch and when a refrigerator's board goes bad, they are my first choice. I have found that Atwood boards seem to hold up when the contacts are properly treated from the start. I will repeat Dick's warning about DeoxIT. It contain some very powerful solvents, I discovered this when I melted and destroyed an expensive limit switch. I'm very cautious with the stuff now, the same as with all spray-type contact cleaners since they all contain solvents. Dielectriic grease, on the other hand, is mostly inert and will not harm things other than possibly staining your clothes and being a bit messy. Get a tube of it, you need it.Larry
Topic: Hot Water Heater Tip (Read 11 times)
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Topic: Hot Water Heater Tip (Read 11 times)
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